Adam Peters, assistant general manager of the San Francisco 49ers, was hired by the Washington Commanders to serve as their head of football operations, marking their first major offseason hire. Peters’s first major choice now will be who will guide his team on the playing field.
As seen by the Commanders’ repeated requests to interview potential head coaches, there is no scarcity of qualified applicants. Ben Johnson, Aaron Glenn, Mike Macdonald, assistant head coach Anthony Weaver, Los Angeles Rams defensive coordinator Raheem Morris, Houston Texans offensive coordinator Bobby Slowik, and Mike Macdonald, defensive coordinator for the Detroit Lions, are the players on that list. After Peters settles in as head of football operations, that list might grow.
Mike Vrabel, the former head coach of the Tennessee Titans, is one name that hasn’t been linked to the Commanders position. After leading Tennessee to a 54-45 record and three postseason appearances between 2018 and 2023, Vrabel was fired.
If Peters chooses his targets based on connections, Slowik and Vrabel would have the upper hand. Before being brought on as the offensive coordinator for the Texans, Slowik worked with Peters in San Francisco from 2017 to 2022.
Before moving on to the Denver Broncos in 2009, Peters spent six seasons as a front-office employee of the New England Patriots starting in 2003. Peters lived in New England during the same period as Patriots player Mike Vrabel (2001–2008). One possible red flag would be the fact that Ron Carthon, general manager of the Titans, is a San Francisco native; nonetheless, he had an excellent rapport with Vrabel and was not a factor in his termination.
After the Patriots fired head coach Bill Belichick, Vrabel seemed to be the front-runner. When they chose to bring on Jerod Mayo, their former inside linebacker coach, it all changed.
Now that Vrabel is out of options in New England, he may turn to Peters, who put together one of the strongest football rosters in history with the 49ers. With the most cap space in the league and five picks in the top 100 of the 2024 NFL Draft, Peters and Vrabel will have a chance to build a strong foundation this offseason.
Perhaps the most crucial aspect of Peters’ job is selecting the appropriate head coach. Though none of his rosters in Tennessee have had the firepower San Francisco has had recently, Vrabel has managed to extract the most from them.
The other options Washington is looking at may one day pan out, but Vrabel has shown to be one of the top coaches in the NFL. Peters should rank the former Titans head coach near the top of his list of contenders for head coach if Vrabel is interested.
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